NCAA Baseball Rewind | NC State 5, UK 4

Riley Mahan of the Kentucky Wildcats high fives teammates after scoring against the Ohio Bobcats during the NCAA Baseball Regional at Cliff Hagan Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky on Friday June 2, 2017. (Michael Reaves/Special to The Courier Journal)

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Follow along for live updates as the UK baseball team takes on NC State in the second game of its NCAA Tournament regional at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Courier-Journal UK beat writer Jon Hale is on the scene to provide commentary and updates. Refresh this page often to make sure the most recent news appears at the top of the post.

FINAL: NC State 5, UK 4

An Evan White solo home run made things interesting in the top of the 9th, but Zach Reks grounded out and Kole Cottam popped out to right to end the game.

BOTTOM OF THE 8TH (NC State 5, UK 3): Two more strikeouts for Zach Logue in a 1-2-3 eighth inning. UK has announced a Cliff Hagan Stadium record with 4,742 fans here tonight.

TOP OF THE 8TH (NC State 5, UK 3): Tepid showing for bottom third of UK’s lineup in a 1-2-3 eighth. Cats will have the top of the order due up in the ninth in final attempt to avoid losers’ bracket.

BOTTOM OF THE 7TH (NC State 5, UK 3): Zach Logue looked stronger in his second inning of relief. The former UK starter struck out the first two batters in the seventh then induced a popout to short following a two-out walk. Cats down to their final six outs to avoid falling into losers’ bracket.

TOP OF THE 7TH (NC State 5, UK 3): Cats get one back in the seventh on an RBI single from Riley Mahan to plate Evan White, but pinch hitter Luke Heyer popped out to shortstop to end the threat with men on first and second. Kole Cottam, who replaced designated hitter Luke Becker, had a key pinch hit single in the inning and will replace Troy Squires behind the plate. Heyer pinch hit for Squires, so UK no longer has a designated hitter.

BOTTOM OF THE 6TH (NC State 5, UK 2): Zach Logue escapes a two-out jam with runners on second and third with a ground out to second base to keep the deficit at three. UK pitching staff in a precarious spot now if the Cats can’t come back tonight. To escape the regional, the Wildcats would need to win three more games from the losers’ bracket but have just two midweek starting pitchers (freshmen Zach Thompson and Brad Schaenzer) remaining who have not pitched yet in the series. That means the Wildcats’ would likely need to throw a bullpen game if they can force the “if necessary” game Monday.

TOP OF THE 6TH (NC State 5, UK 2): Seven-pitch, 1-2-3 inning for the UK offense. Zach Logue coming into pitch for Kentucky in the bottom of the frame. Logue, who is 7-5 with a 4.84 ERA this season, was UK’s Saturday starter before moving to the pen in the SEC Tournament last week. The lefty has made one relief appearance this season.

BOTTOM OF THE 5TH (NC State 5, UK 2): Justin Lewis was finally unable to work out of trouble in the fifth after center fielder Marcus Carson missed a sliding attempt on a liner to center field with two on and two outs. The ball rolled all the way to the wall as two runs scored and NC State third baseman Evan Mendoza ended up at third base with a triple. Catcher Andy Cosgrove then lined a single to left to score Mendoza for NC State’s fifth run of the game. Lewis then struck out right fielder Brock Deatherage to end the damage. UK pitcher Zach Logue is warming up in the pen.

TOP OF THE 5TH (NC State 2, UK 2): Quiet inning for Kentucky. Luke Becker flew out to right, Riley Mahan struck out and Troy Squires fouled out to the third baseman.

BOTTOM OF THE 4TH (NC State 2, UK 2): A leaping grab from second baseman Riley Mahan on a looper to shallow right field saves Justin Lewis from a bases-loaded jam in the fourth. NC State had loaded the bases with two walks and a single before Mahan’s gem ended the scoring opportunity. Lewis has walked four batters in four innings.

TOP OF THE 4TH (NC State 2, UK 2): Marcus Carson led off the fourth with a single and eventually moved to third base thanks to a sacrifice bunt, a walk and a fielder’s choice, but the Wildcats could not bring him home. UK has now left seven men on base through four innings one day after leaving 15 on base in eight innings in a win over Ohio.

BOTTOM OF THE 3RD (NC State 2, UK 2): NC State went down in order for the first time tonight in the third with a flyout to right and two groundouts.

TOP OF THE 3RD (NC State 2, UK 2): Tristan Pompey led off the third inning with a home run off the scoreboard in left-center field to tie the game at two. Kentucky then loaded the bases for the second time in the game with singles from Evan White and Zach Reks and a walk from Riley Mahan, but Troy Squires flew out to shallow center field and Tyler Marshall struck out swinging to end the threat. The first out of the inning came on a sacrifice bunt from designated hitter Luke Becker with two on.

BOTTOM OF THE 2ND (NC State 2, UK 1): Justin Lewis worked around two, two-out walks to induce a groundout to third base to end the inning. Lewis has now thrown 36 pitches through two innings.

TOP OF THE 2ND (NC State 2, UK 1): Cats go down in order in the second inning. Marcus Carson and Connor Heady both struck out after a Tyler Marshal flyout to right field.

BOTTOM OF THE 1ST (NC State 2, UK 1): NC State first baseman Stephen Pitarra and center fielder Josh McLain led off the game with back-to-back home runs to silence the crowd here. Pitarra’s blast was down the right-field line. McLain’s just cleared the fence in right-center field. The UK trainer had to check on starter Justin Lewis after the second out of the inning, a come-backer off his leg that catcher Troy Squires fielded and threw to first for the out. Lewis stayed in the game after a warmup throw and ended the inning with a strikeout two batters later.

TOP OF THE 1ST (UK 1, NC State 0): We’ve got to be close to full capacity (4,350 for the regional) on another gorgeous night for baseball, and the crowd got an early chance to yell with Kentucky batting first as the visiting team tonight. Tristan Pompey led off the game with a single and move to second on an error by the NC State center fielder. Zach Reks walked one out later, then both batters moved up a base on a double steal. Luke Becker walked to load the bases. NC State then pulled starter Michael Bienlien with a 1-2 count on Riley Mahan and one out, but Mahan was able to drive in the game’s first run with a sacrifice fly to center off reliever Sean Adler.